Takes me hours to get my 3 yr old to sleep

10/04/2010 at 12:06 PM.

I usually give my son a bath around 7 pm every night but sometimes he won't take a bath, and then at 8pm I start reading to him and setteling him down. (I don't give him any sugar after 7 pm) and anyway he doesn't like to sit still during books after the 3rd page in the book he gets up and starts wandering around, If I play soft music for him he gets upset and starts acting like I'm scratching finger nails across a chalk board, he seems very agravated ( it may be just because it makes him tired) he screams ad throws a fit and will get out of bed and run like he can't take it anymore. Of course I keep grabbing him and putting him back into bed. And will turn off the soft music after 5 minutes. I have even tried to get him to sleep by watching t.v. which seems to work for naps sometimes but hypes him up at night most the time. Anyway he doesn't fall asleep until 1:30 am! Sometimes he wll wake up in middle of the night and freak out cause I'm not around. He almost always wakes up in a crabby mood screaming for me and breathing hard. and spends alot of the day crabby! I don't really give him ALOT sugar or caffine other than 1 or 2 cups of Diet soda or tea everyday, but he usually drinks juice which I know does have a little sugar in it. an milk. And he usually has at least one small sugary snack a day, just as a treat. (sm bowl of ice cream, fruit snacks or a freeze pop usually) Should I not give him any sugar anymore?? Sometimes I don't and it doesn't matter! He has been like this since he was a baby. I was starting to wonder if maybe it was something more. His doctor knows but has never said much about it other than him going to see a developmental proffesional. But is there anything I am doing wrong?? could he have Sleep apnea? I can't talk to him about it cause he is developmentally delayed and cannot communicate more than a 1 yr old can. WHAT am I doing wrong? Am I an idiot for giving him soda? cause I have before not given it to him and he still stays up. I am goig to call my dr but I don't think he will let us do any test on him he'd freak out. I'm already worrid about his IEP test coming up I could just see them putting monitors on him at a hospital or something. Sorry this is so long

Diet soda has artificial sweeteners which are even worse for some people than sugar is. Try replacing the diet soda with water, juice, or even a sugar-sweetened drink without carbonation. This was just my initial reaction-I don't know if it will help, but it is worth a try.

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